In recent years alterations to the lifestyle and diet in most western countries have caused a rise in the number of individuals with high blood pressure.
High blood pressure (otherwise referred to as hypertension, or more correctly arterial hypertension) can be a serious condition which seldom carries any symptoms and which, if not detected and treated, can cause stroke, arterial aneurysm, heart attack, heart failure or renal failure � any one of which represents a life-threatening condition.
So precisely what is hypertension and precisely what causes it?
The arteries of your body are constantly filled with blood which exerts a normal 'background' pressure against the artery walls. When your heart pumps freshly oxygenated blood around your body it forces this blood into the arteries momentarily raising the pressure exerted on the artery walls with every heartbeat. These two pressures are called the systolic pressure (the higher pumping pressure of the heart) and the diastolic pressure (the reduced 'background' pressure).
Normal blood pressure differs from individual to individual but, on average, systolic pressure ought to be around 120mm and diastolic pressure ought to be approximately 80mm. This is frequently shown as a blood pressure of 120/80.
When your blood pressure begins to rise and then stays at a level above 120/80 then you are said to be 'prehypertensive' and, although this is not in itself serious, it is an indication that you might be at risk of developing hypertension and all of the problems which are linked with it. If your blood pressure reaches, and stays at, a level of 140/90 or above then you are said to be suffering from hypertension and action needs to be taken to reduce your blood pressure.
But just what makes you blood pressure rise and then remain at a high level?
Well, there are several factors involved here and to start there is a group over which you have little, or no, control. This group of factors includes a low weight at birth, a variety of genetic factors, certain forms of diabetes (particularly type 2 diabetes) and your age (with increasing age the arteries display a tendency to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, creating a smaller cross-sectional area for the blood to flow through).
The next group of factors is far more controllable and includes alcohol abuse, smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, high quantities of salt and saturated fats in your diet, excess weight, stress and working in specific occupations such as motorway maintenance or flying.
The majority of these factors are treatable and, in many cases, a simple adjustment to your diet and the addition of some exercise into your daily routine is all that is necessary to solve the problem. However, the difficulty is that, with few symptoms, most individuals do not know that they are suffering from hypertension to start with.
So how can you go about curing the problem?
Luckily the answer to this particular question is fairly simple. All you have to do is to call in at your physician's office on a regular basis (about twice a year should do the trick) and ask him or her to check your blood pressure. The process is pain free, easy and fast and will give you peace of mind and can save your doctor a lot of work, time and expense later on when you are forced to drop by his office once hypertension arrives.
If you are not so keen on calling in to see your doctor then an excellent alternative today is to simply monitor your own blood pressure. A wide range of simple to operate and relatively inexpensive monitors are now available, allowing you to maintain a check on your own health, and that of your complete family, in the comfort and privacy of your own home.
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